Check his feet ...

Shoes sir “, said Major Rawlins following the brutal beating of Private Trip in the movie, “Glory”. A Union patrol had apprehended Trip played by Denzel Washington and assumed him to be a deserter when in fact, he was off trying to find a pair of shoes that fit his feet. Day in and day out, the 54th Massachusetts of which he was a member endured harsh training – most in shoes too small for their feet.

“The men need shoes”.

Finding a pair of shoes his size sounds simple enough but for a runaway slave turned Union soldier whose entire existence had been based on survival not convenience--not fit, access to a pair of shoes that fit was a complicated matter indeed. Upon hearing this request, Colonel Shaw assured Rawlins shoes for coloreds was on his to-do list.

“Now sir. The boy was off trying to find himself a pair of shoes”.

The nature of this comment prompted the Major to visit the infirmary where the recently disciplined Private lay healing. He saw Trip’s back, reduced to ribbons, the results of a severe flogging…but it was his feet that told the story. They were mangled from weeks of training in shoes that didn’t fit. But mangled though they may have been, they never stopped him from training…they never stopped him from searching for shoes that fit.

“He wants to fight—same as the rest of us…more even”. 

Over 600,000 lives were lost during the Civil War, with heavy casualties on both sides. In retrospect, the argument can be made that no one wanted to fight more than the black man, free or slaved. While others were fighting for a way of life, he was fighting for his life.

***

Shoes sir…

There’s a Private Trip in every city. A young black boy who set out one night in search of a pair of shoes. Shoes that will help him get to that next place in life, shoes that will tell him he can when the whole world reminds him that he can’t – shoes, that fit his feet.

The men need shoes…

It sounds simple enough, but you’d be surprised how many times this simple statement falls on deaf ears. The men need shoes – the kind that’ll allow them to be confident, operating in any environment. The kind that’ll equip them for the unique challenges that’ve been set aside for them and them alone -- the kind of shoes they can walk in.

Now sir. The boy was off trying to find himself a pair of shoes.

The young black boy off trying to find himself some shoes rarely has a chance to tell this story. It might seem as though he’s up to mischief, busy becoming the label society placed on him long before his arrival. Do some make poor choices, yes, but in so many other cases, the choice has already been made for him.

Close the door, he can’t come in…He did it…This can’t be your car…What are you doing in this neighborhood…Where’d you get that money…These words and so many others represent the flogging the black boy receives…daily.

There’s a fire burning inside the young black boy. A fire to do better, to defy the odds and be everything this life says he can’t be. Give him a classroom, not a jail cell. He wants a job, a business of his own one day…not a corner to hustle. A neighborhood he can come home to not one he longs to escape from…He wants to fight – same as the rest of us…more even.

The next time you see a young black boy, heading down the wrong path, don’t assume he has deserted life. Instead, take a moment and look at his feet. Understand that your kind words, your voice might be the shoes that he’s been off searching for. Don’t wait until next time because next time might be too late – or it might never come at all…do it now, sir.

He’ll light up. I’ve seen it. Trust me. He wants to fight – same as the rest of us…more even.

The boy just needs himself a pair of shoes…